Watch | Did Biden say Iranian people instead of Ukrainians in State of the Union address?
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While expressing his support for Ukraine in the face of Russia's escalating invasion, the US President made a resounding slip of tongue.
US President Joe Biden was in full flow during his State of the Union address in his support and defence of Ukraine in the face of Russian invasion. But as he neared the climax of his speech, where he intended to say Russian President Vladimir Putin would never win the hearts and minds of the Ukrainian people... the country came out wrong, shifting to Iran.
"Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he’ll never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people," Biden said, to an awkward slow clap.
"He’ll never, he’ll never extinguish their love of freedom," he continued before someone yelled from the crowd and the trepidatious applause grew.
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"And he will never, ever weaken the resolve of the free world."
Political experts jumped on the video as a symptom of the president's waning mental sharpness, and it rapidly went viral online.
President Biden:
— Mark Bednar (@MarkBednar) March 2, 2022
"Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he'll gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people." pic.twitter.com/led9r2OHMv
Iranian People? pic.twitter.com/i3vjPM0Ie4
— KopiteTX (@KopiteTx) March 2, 2022
At that point, Biden was already facing criticism about his "mental sharpness" coming into his first State of the Union address, whether it was due to a stutter, mistake, or mixing up geography.
This is not the first time that the 79-year-old Biden has tripped over words. As a child he had problems with his speech and had to work to overcome a stutter and it has been widely reported that he used to spend long hours reciting works of Yeats and Emerson to overcome his speech condition.
Last year social media had pounced on his gaffe when he mistakenly called his Vice President Kamala Harris as "President Harris".
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(With inputs from agencies)
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